Contact AMSNY

December 2012 News from the Medical Schools

Dec

10

2012

The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) brings you the following compilation of the most recent updates and news from its sixteen member institutions. AMSNY is engaged in highlighting efforts of the schools in areas including, but not limited to, medical education, training, and research.

New York’s Medical Schools Urge Congress to Preserve Federal Funding for Scientific Research and Workforce Development

December 3, 2012 – The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) today directed a letter to the New York State Congressional Delegation calling on them to reject a nearly 10-percent cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Medicare and Title VII health professions programs, that will take effect January 2, 2013.

“In order to meet the health challenges of an aging and increasingly diverse population, continue to foster the types of innovation that will drive our regional economy, and remain a vibrant force in the global economy, we need to invest more in medical research and the health care workforce, not less,” said Dr. Lee Goldman, AMSNY’s chair, and executive vice president and dean of the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. “Cuts to vital research and educational programs will delay medical progress and deny hope to millions of Americans.“

The AMSNY letter states that “the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) estimates the pending sequestration action will reduce NIH funding in FY 2013 by $2.5 billion. Medical schools and teaching hospitals would lose more than $1 billion nationally. Approximately $167 million in funding would be lost in New York State alone. According to a 2010 Tripp Umbach report commissioned by AMSNY, the state receives an economic return of $7.50 for each research dollar invested in New York’s medical schools. Therefore, a $167 million loss in NIH funding would equate to an overall loss of approximately $1.25 billion to New York’s economy and result in lost jobs.”

NYIT’s Medical School to be Renamed

November 28, 2012 – New York Institute of Technology will rename its osteopathic medical school next month as New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. Effective January 1, the new name replaces the 35-year-old college’s former name, New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, which was commonly known as NYCOM. An official naming, sign dedication ceremony, and a reception are planned for December 5.

“The new name positions NYIT and its College of Osteopathic Medicine for a future that includes continuing expansion of our research base, continuing innovations in interdisciplinary programs, and most importantly, educating future physicians using cutting-edge technology and curricular innovations,” said Vice President of Health Sciences and Medical Affairs, and Interim Dean, Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. “Part of this future includes connecting more effectively with all of our alumni around the state, the country, and the world.”

Teamwork at North Shore-LIJ Saves Baby

November 20, 2012 – Several North Shore-LIJ Health System employees, and also second-year medical student of Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, Fiore Mastroianni, banded together and coordinated care to save a seven-month-old girl’s life. The child had suffered a severe epidural bleed after hitting her head and was rushed to the hospital for emergency care.

Stony Brook University will Hire 25 New Faculty in Round One of Interdisciplinary Cluster Hire Initiative

November 20, 2012 – Stony Brook University recently announced the results of its first interdisciplinary faculty cluster hiring initiative, part of Stony Brook’s SUNY 2020 plan to add more than 250 faculty over the next five years. Of the 36 proposals received in response to the first round of this initiative, five clusters were selected for funding, which will result in the hiring of 25 new faculty in the areas of: Behavioral Political Economy; Biomolecular Imaging; Coastal Zone Management and Engineering; Photon Science at the Joint Stony Brook-Brookhaven National Laboratory Photon Science Institute (JPSI); and Smart Energy Technology.

The proposals chosen to be funded this year were selected because they successfully met the criteria outlined in the request for proposals. They demonstrate the national and international relevance of the research field and its appropriateness to Stony Brook University; open-up new avenues for interaction and synergy of faculty across different fields; demonstrate the anticipated impact of the proposed hires on undergraduate and graduate education in emerging fields of study; and demonstrate strong potential for significant impact on the academic world, the state of New York, and the larger community.

November 20, 2012 – Nationally recognized physician-scientist and cancer researcher Vincent Yang, MD, PhD, was formally installed as the first Simons Chair of Medicine during Stony Brook University’s inaugural Investiture Ceremony. Held at the Wang Center on November 16, the ceremony began a new tradition at Stony Brook that recognizes newly endowed professors and chairs and the generosity of the benefactors that endow these esteemed academic positions.

Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation have provided a matching challenge grant to help endow 35 new professorships at Stony Brook across academic disciplines. The contribution is one aspect of a $150 million gift to Stony Brook University from the Simons. The Simons Chair of Medicine is the first of these endowed positions.

“This is an extraordinary day for Stony Brook, and one that opens the doors for Stony Brook to become a magnet to recruit the best and brightest scholars,” said Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President for the Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine. “The future of the Department of Medicine is in great hands with Dr. Yang, a star clinician, educator, and research scientist.”

UB Makes First Land Purchase for New Downtown Medical School

November 15, 2012 – UB today announced the purchase of land at 960 Washington St., the first of several parcels it is assembling to make way for construction of the new $375 million School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The $375 million project, funded in part by NYSUNY 2020 legislation signed into law last year by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, is a key component of the UB 2020 plan for academic excellence, which is intended to benefit students, faculty, staff and the Western New York community. The new medical school will sit at the corner of High and Main streets, in the center of the region’s emerging biosciences corridor, a short walk from hospitals, research centers and incubators that nurture new bioscience startup companies.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine to be Named in Honor of Carl Icahn

November 15, 2012 – Mount Sinai President and CEO Kenneth L. Davis, MD and Chairman of the Boards of Trustees Peter W. May announced today that the Mount Sinai School of Medicine has been renamed the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in honor of Trustee Carl C. Icahn. Mr. Icahn, whose latest gift is the largest in Mount Sinai’s history and among the biggest ever given to a medical school, signed the formal agreement Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at his offices in midtown Manhattan.

The new name was approved by the Boards of Trustees on September 24 in recognition of Mr. Icahn’s many years of dedicated service to the institution, his leadership in advancing medical science, and his nearly $200 million in lifetime giving to Mount Sinai. In addition, the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology will be renamed the Icahn Genomics Institute.

What Can Healthcare Professionals Learn from Art? A Columbia University Physician Finds Answers at the Met

November 14, 2012 – In an article published in the November 15 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Rita Charon, MD, PhD, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons and executive director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, examines the ways in which both the physician and the artist inform their practice through recognition of the self in their work. Dr. Charon, a pioneer of narrative medicine as a field of study and a methodology for medical education, sees parallels in the reflection of the artist in the painting and the recognition of self in the meeting of doctor and patient.

Stem Cell Research Flourishing in Western New York

November 6, 2012 – The Western New York Stem Cell Culture and Analysis Center (WNYSTEM), which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, is well into its mission of promoting and facilitating research on stem cells.

The facility is already attracting clients. Pharmaceutical companies have contracted with the facility’s stem cell engraftment core for research projects, and the sequencing core has prepared and analyzed a number of samples.

“Stem cell biology and regenerative medicine are changing the way we study biology and practice medicine, and WNYSTEM was established to promote and strengthen these fields within UB and western New York,” says director Richard Gronostajski, PhD, professor of biochemistry.